About

First of all, ‘about’ this page.  There are four main sections – about Carl, about Julie, about our placemats, and about our online community and website.  All of us have one attribute in common, helping others.  If you like to help others, get to know us better and maybe you can help us get this website the way we see it – something for everybody, anywhere in the USA.

About Carl: I was born and raised in Mercer County, PA, moved to California for twenty-some years and raised a great daughter, then developed the itch to move back to Pennsylvania.  In retrospect, I think the people and lifestyle of California just couldn’t match what I’ve experienced here.

I’ve been volunteering ever since I can remember and that goes back to Sunday School days when my feet dangled off the floor when sitting on those very little chairs reserved for toddlers.  Since then I’ve continued enjoying the ‘feel good’ paycheck and often that’s enough.

I don’t like feeling frustrated and I don’t like seeing others frustrated.  Two of the primary causes?  No communication and mis-communication.  For example, the people up in Boston who make online maps don’t know the roads in Armstrong County and they often send both residents and visitors on a wild goose chase.  Frustrating?  You bet.

The local paper often has information about local events – the day after they happen.  Frustrating?  Yes again.

For the purpose of sharing information with others, I highly recommend publishing via the Internet on a local level.  I’ve created a set of forms that will help you make custom online maps, post events, write stories, and more…  all without cost to you or the American taxpayer.  See the section Local4All Online below.

About Julie: Originally Julia Ann Nycz, born and raised in Ford City, PA, Julie graduated from Ford City HS, met and married the father of her two sons (later divorced), put herself and both her sons through college, and used her R.N. degree and Masters in Nursing to build a career path that spans several employers and many years.  Currently she is an instructor in the Lenape Nursing Program, administrator of the Skilled Nursing Unit at Armstrong County Memorial Hospital, proofreader extraordinaire for Local4All placemats, and self-appointed Chief Enforcement Officer of the “To Do” list.  If something needs to get done, call Julie!

About Local4All Placemats: Originally known in the area as Warner Advertising placemats, Dan Warner’s table-top mats first started showing up in the Ford City area circa 1992.  Local4All purchased the placemats business in February 2007, the owners of the two businesses having known each other for several years through nonprofit work (Ford City Area Business and Professionals Association) and Carl having given Dan a hand occasionally in the print shop and/or deliveries as needed.  At the time of transfer, Dan’s other obligations and opportunities in life had resulted in the placemat service areas going from an all-time high of eight areas in 2002 down to three in 2007.  Since taking over, we have increased the number back to seven.  Dan himself has been one of our frequent advertising customers for his Trading Post business.

Local4All Online: Starting in Y2000, it was my dream to support small towns across America that could not afford the cost or didn’t have the manpower or technical skills to self-publish on the Internet.  By this time, I had been webmaster of kittanning.com for several years and knew the drawbacks of having to edit one page at a time, upload, double check, etc., too many times per day let alone over a week, month, or year.  Enter PHP.  Enter MySQL.  The learning curves seemed impossible but over time challenges were met and surpassed.  Financially, the new Local4All project was dependent on a very conservative but very generous/giving person in many ways (a nurse, of course)… Julia A. “Julie” Duris.

Our most frequently asked question… “How do people find what I posted?” That’s easy, too.  Go to http://(your zip code).local4all.com (substitute any USA zip code, 5 digits only).

Example:  http://16201.local4all.com
To submit new content, start at http://free4all.local4all.com.

Self-publishing is easy, free, and you don’t have to wait for a middleman!

(In two sections, there is a short wait for us to review and approve new content – photos and stories.  We do our absolute best to assure family-friendly, child-safe content at all times).  In addition to your own zip code, content is shared with nearby zip codes.